Free speech shows its true strength when you just let it be: without any provisions of hate speech laws, without euphemisms, and without the "free speech, but..." suggestions that are nothing but coercive insinuations of self-censorship. Let the person say what they have to say.

If there's even a grain of truth in their argument, at worst, you've given yourself an introspective opportunity to re-evaluate why you believe the things that you do....and that's valuable in-it-of-itself. And if their argument falls completely short, they've ruined their reputation and can blame nobody but themselves.

A lot of apologists here try making the claim that free speech isn't really free speech in practice, that hypocrisy abounds, and the rules are capricious.....and they're right.

For example, it's illegal to deny things like the Holocaust in France and Germany: those are bad laws. We should allow ourselves to see who actually believe things that are evidently untrue; for the benefit of both knowing what we're truly up against, and to give the offending parties a chance to see for themselves the flaws in how they think before they truly destroy their credibility.

I see too often on here people tossing out words like "racist", "homophobic", "SJW", "euphoric" when dealing with complex issues....even before giving their opponents an opportunity to clarify their position; as if such accusations will shame them into submission. And they often do it because (1) it's easy, and (2) because they think that they're right no matter what. They've already decided for themselves that there is nothing more to be had in the conversation.

Hitchens put it the best: "don't take refuge in the false security of consensus."

There is always something to be learned. And by stifling conversations even before they begin, you ironically do the one thing that you intended not to do from the start: disenfranchise the ones holding the different opinions. That's what encourages radicalization. That's what gives strength to people like Mullah Krekar.

I can go on about this for days, but instead, I'll just leave this here: